Episode 12: The Magician Once More

Isn’t nice when things that you are hoping for come into fruition? Well Food Wars! The Second Plate brought to the table this week exactly what I was hoping for. For the first time ever we see Soma struggling to keep up in the high pace of Shinomiya’s kitchen. It isn’t often we see him get into a (real) bad spot. At least not for long. With Soma quickly picking up on certain techniques, it will be fun to finally see his own style materialize.

He may still be the grumpy villain from the first season, but it is nice to see that Chef Shinomiya does have a soul and experience compassion every once and a while. Witnessing him at his restaurant is definitely the right amount of character development that we needed. We couldn’t go this whole time without getting to know him at least a little bit better. And based off his rigid routine that he has in the kitchen, it comes as no surprise why he is rated as highly as he is.

As a personal note, I don’t think I would have been able to survive in Shinomiya’s kitchen. The idea of not being able to talk during the work day would drive me absolutely bonkers. The silence, accuracy, and timeliness of him and his staff proves how incredible they all work together. When adding Soma into the mix of this well oiled machine, things not moving as well comes with the territory.

For the first time Soma has had this kind of challenge. As he pointed out in the episode, his real issues had been just against others. If he had to pick the pace up, he only had himself to blame (or rely on). He has never had the challenge of being so heavily relied on by so many others. Which is why I think this is a perfect challenge for him. I always appreciate watching Soma push himself, change, and adapt to succeed.

This episode was an exceptional example of this. With him staying up all night, learning new techniques, and being part of a rigid team it was the best possible situation to be in. Once he was able to get the flow of the kitchen down properly he certainly showed his metal by meeting Shinomiya’s expectations. This challenge also seems like something that would come up pretty frequently in a highly competent kitchen, and watching Soma conquer it makes it all the better.

At least Ryo’s challenge is going exactly as expected.

Although it was brief, it was also nice to see how things were fairing for all the other students.

Thankfully, the humor didn’t fall flat either. Just when I thought things were getting too tense and serious, they threw in some slapstick here and there. I would have preferred a little bit more, but overall had a decent amount.

I half expected Shinomiya to have a personal vendetta against Soma within this episode. However, it seems more like he has been rather helpful and aiming to force Soma into becoming a better chef. I cannot tell whether this is in order to battle Soma at his fullest potential, or that somewhere deep down within that stone-faced facade he actually cares. At any rate, it did seem like an interesting move on his behalf.

Episode 12 of Food Wars! certainly didn’t falter. With new real world challenges, it was nice to watch Soma step up to the challenge. With a bit more time to get to know Shinomiya, this episode certainly didn’t disappoint. The competition that is to ensue will make for a great final episode of this arc.

The Magician Once MoreSoma has met his first real unique challenge in this week's Food Wars! episode, which is great for the overall story. It also gave us a perfect opportunity to see the relationship between Soma and Shinomiya develop. I can't wait to see the two of them go toe to toe in the next episode.

About Patrick Moore

is a co-founder of BentoByte. He is an audiophile with a predilection for every type of media. He enjoys playing music, going to shows, being active, good beer, going on adventures, and of course gaming and anime.